Date of Award

Summer July 2015

Access Restriction

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctorate in Education

Department

Education

School or College

School of Education

First Advisor

Ernest Rose

Second Advisor

Michael Gottfried

Third Advisor

Anna Bargagliotti

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore and analyze which fifth-grade teacher inputs were the most important predictors of future outcomes of eighth-grade math students. This quantitative study looked at mathematical achievement through the lens of an education production function. The three inputs that were analyzed were fifth-grade teachers’ background; perception of professional development; and instructional practices and the relationship of those practices to achievement in eighth-grade math. In order to find the relationship between the above variables and student achievement, descriptive statistics, multiple correlations, and multi-variable regression analysis were conducted to examine which predictors had a stronger relationship between eighth-grade math outcomes than others. Taken as a whole, fifth-grade teacher math inputs in this study seemed to explain a small part of the variance regarding eighth-grade math achievement. As a whole, the more frequently students wrote and spoke about math in fifth grade as well as used math tools effectively, the better the outcome in eighth grade.

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